Syria is "calm," says Iranian foreign minister

The situation in Syria is "calm," requiring no repatriation of Iranian citizens there, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday, according to the official news agency IRNA.

"Syria is calm and Iranian nationals who are there have no problem and there is no need to conduct any special action" for them, Salehi was quoted as saying.

The minister's comments were made the same day a British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian government troops used tanks to besiege an outlying district of Damascus, a week after heavy clashes first broke in the capital.